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Towards a taxonomy of cognitive task analysis methods: a search for cognition and task analysis interactions

TOWARDS A TAXONOMY OF COGNITIVE TASK ANALYSIS METHODS:
A SEARCH FOR COGNITION AND TASK ANALYSIS INTERACTIONS
by
Kenneth Anthony Yates
A Dissertation Presented to the
FACULTY OF THE ROSSIER SCHOOL OF EDUCATION
UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA
In Partial Fulfillment of the
Requirements for the Degree
DOCTOR OF EDUCATION
May 2007
Copyright 2007 Kenneth Anthony Yates

Experts are often called upon to provide their knowledge and skills for curriculum and materials development, teaching, and training. Experts also provide information to develop knowledge-based expert computer systems that facilitate problem-solving tasks in a wide range of fields. Cognitive task analysis (CTA) is a family of knowledge elicitation techniques that have been shown to effectively capture the unobservable cognitive processes, decisions, and judgments involved in expert performance. Over 100 types of CTA methods have been identified and classified. However, existing classification schemes primarily sort CTA techniques by process rather than desired outcome or application. Consequently, it is difficult for practitioners to choose an optimal method for their purposes. A more effective and efficient method to elicit, analyze, and represent expert knowledge would be to apply CTA methods known to be appropriate to the desired knowledge outcome. However, no taxonomy of CTA methods and knowledge types currently exists. The purpose of this study is to identify the most frequently used CTA techniques in the literature and identify which knowledge types are associated with their methods and outcomes. The results indicate that (a) the most frequently used CTA methods include both standardized and informal methods, (b) pairings of CTA methods are used in practice rather an individual methods, and (c) CTA methods have been associated more with declarative knowledge than procedural knowledge. Implications for future CTA research and instructional design are discussed.

TOWARDS A TAXONOMY OF COGNITIVE TASK ANALYSIS METHODS:
A SEARCH FOR COGNITION AND TASK ANALYSIS INTERACTIONS
by
Kenneth Anthony Yates
A Dissertation Presented to the
FACULTY OF THE ROSSIER SCHOOL OF EDUCATION
UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA
In Partial Fulfillment of the
Requirements for the Degree
DOCTOR OF EDUCATION
May 2007
Copyright 2007 Kenneth Anthony Yates